Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sound-emitting balls and electronic sports training systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electronic sports training system that comprises an electronic ball and a user-worn monitoring device. The ball monitors and stores a variety of variables associated with the use of the ball, including its position, the force applied to the ball, the direction of the forces applied to the ball, the orientation of the ball, the spin of the ball, and other such variables. The user-worn monitoring device also stores variables associated with the movement of the user. These stored data sets can then be uploaded to a data visualization system and the data visualization system calculates and plots graphical representations of the user, the user's path, the ball, and the ball's path in order to provide a complete picture of the user's training. Furthermore, the ball is adapted to emit a plurality of sounds, comments, or commands to the user based upon the occurrence of certain events or the skill level of the user.
Training for a sport outside of directly-supervised coaching sessions can be a difficult and unproductive proposition for many individuals, especially if they are a novice to the sport or very young, since it is often difficult to know whether one is truly performing a task correctly without a knowledgeable third party observer being present. Improving at a sport can also be very difficult for intermediate-level individuals because said users tend to plateau without further direction from coaches and other individuals knowledge about the proper techniques to utilize when playing the sport. Furthermore, many young individuals have the desire to get into and play sports, but they lack the requisite level of encouragement to get them beyond the initial difficultly hump associated with learning the sport and developing positive health habits.
Electronic sports training systems and sound-emitting balls are currently known in the prior art. The electronic training systems generally comprise a plurality of sensors to be worn by the individual, a means for recording and storing the data captured by the sensors, and a means for translating the discrete data measurements into meaningful results that may be utilized by the user to improve or track his or her performance. These training systems lack any direct, immediate feedback provided to the user in the form of sounds or comments. Therefore, the user is unable to alter his performance and improve his or her skills while in the act of playing the sport and instead must rely on the ability to analyze the data, interpret the data into meaningful results, and then apply the conclusions garnered from the interpreted data at a later training time. This is an inefficient system because users therefore spend entire training sessions practicing improperly without any direction as to such from the system and they are forced to perfectly analyze and alter their playing or practicing style without any direct input from a third-party observer. Sound-emitting sports balls are also known in the prior art, however they lack any means for tracking and monitoring the movement of the ball, the force applied to the ball, or the orientation or spin of the ball and lack the ability to dynamically provide comments to the user regarding his or her performance based upon these tracked variables. Therefore, there is a need in the prior art for a sports training and coaching system that continuously tracks variables associated with both the user and the ball and is adapted to dynamically provide feedback to the user based upon these variables.
An electronic sports training and coaching system is provided to simulate real-time coaching for any player of any skill level. The system comprises a ball having an electronic monitoring system, a user-worn apparatus for monitoring the actions of the user, and a visual representation system to which the data from the aforementioned components can be uploaded. The ball further comprises a plurality of sensors, a speaker for emitting sounds, comments, or coaching commands, a storage medium for storing said sounds and the tracked data from the sensors, a wireless transceiver for uploading said data and downloading program updates, and a power supply. The visual representation system is software on a secondary electronic device to which the data tracked by the ball and user-worn apparatuses may be uploaded. Once uploaded to the visual representation system, the data is translated into visual representations of the ball and the user so that the user can track his or her progress around the field of play and preferably compare his movement to a desire movement route. The ball is configurable to emit comments in response to the occurrence of various events or coaching commands at random intervals to train the user to respond to direction from a third-party and to improve the user's response time and agility.
Description of the Prior Art
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to sound-emitting balls and electronic sports training and tracking systems. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to balls having speakers and monitoring systems comprising a plurality of sensors that are worn by the user, respectively. The following is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.
Some such devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,200 to Shishido, U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,839 to Pagani, U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,685 to Willner et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,330 to Rehkemper et al., which all disclose various sports balls that are adapted to emit sounds in response to various stimuli or track certain statistics. All of these devices fail to provide a ball that is adapted to dynamically provide coaching commands to a user and is adapted to logically provide comments to the user based upon the user's performance, as detected by the ball's sensors.
Other such devices include U.S. Pat. No. 8,289,185 to Alonso and U.S. Published Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0048044 to Vincent et al., which disclose systems for monitoring the movement and performance of a user in the context of playing or training for a sport. These devices are also adapted to track data associated with a user's movement and actions, however, they lack a means for dynamically and immediately providing coaching cues or commands to an individual based upon the individual's current performance.
The present invention provides an electronic sports tracking and training system. The system comprises a ball that has a plurality of sensors for tracking its movement and the forces imparted upon the ball, a user-worn tracking system that also comprises a plurality of sensors for tracking movement, and a data visualization system to which the stored data may be uploaded and mapped in either a two-dimensional or a three-dimensional format so that it can be visualized by a user. These components work together to provide users with a total picture of their movement relative to the movement of the ball. The ball further comprises a plurality of sounds or comments that the device plays in response to certain variables being within pre-determined tolerance thresholds that are specifically assigned to each sound or comment. The ball will also play coaching commands that direct the user to take certain actions at random intervals. It substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing sports tracking and training devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.